HSE Warns of Bogus Agencies

The Health and Safety Executive has warned businesses to be wary of bogus organisations posing as official health and safety regulators. The HSE (www.hse.gov.uk) said it had received complaints about three companies from the north west of England which are contacting businesses around the country and telling them that they need to pay up to #250 for health and safety registration, and charging hundreds of pounds for health and safety compliance packs. The companies all have pseudo-official names, such as the Health and Safety Registration Enforcement Division or the Health and Safety Compliance Agency, but are not in any way associated with the real Health and Safety Executive.

Justin McCracken, HSE’s Deputy Directory General, said: “None of these companies is connected to HSE. Organisations should be very wary of any approach from these firms, or any company ‘offering’ similar services. All three firms use wording suggesting they are official enforcement bodies, but they are not.”

The HSE pointed out that much of the information these companies are charging for is available free of charge from its website and the legitimate Health and Safety Starter Pack is available from the HSE for #30. The three companies in question are have been reported to the trading standards authority and are currently under investigation by the police.